1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates mainly to the field of network/system management. In particular, the invention relates to technology for managing management items of tools that conduct automatic execution of data backup and monitoring of the operating status of computers in order to support the normal operation of computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Operations management tools (referred to below as management tools) are used with the purpose of normally operating computer systems and, in the event that there is a problem, investigating the nature of the problem and implementing a countermeasure. In JP-A-2000-250833, management tools are described that monitor whether or not a computer system is in an operating status, check whether or not the CPU load of the computer system is excessive and check whether or not disk capacity has become insufficient.
The types of management tools are various, and the ranges thereof (range of functions offered) also differ for each management tool. For this reason, plural management tools are often jointly used to a certain extent in large computer systems. However, what becomes a problem in this case is the disunity of operability among the management tools. Although management tools are made by various manufacturers, the operability of the management tools differs depending on the type of management tools because there are no design standards common to the industry. As a result, in environments where plural management tools are used, it is necessary to learn how to operate and appropriately use each management tool, whereby the burden on the user of the management tools increases.
To solve this problem, JP-A-2000-222316 discloses a method that enables different management tools to be handled with a unified operation method by internally disposing a function for absorbing differences in operability between the tools. As the management tools are used, labor for determining the content (referred to below as management items) managed by each management tool and setting that content with respect to each management tool becomes necessary. Additionally, in a case where the determined content of the management items has changed after temporary setting has been conducted, the set content of the management tools must be updated (reset). Such labor for setting and changing the management items has conventionally been conducted per management tool. However, in an environment where the number of management tools being used is large, labor for setting and changing the management items also increases, whereby the same labor becomes cumbersome, labor time becomes long and it also becomes easy for errors in setting changes to arise.